Q&A

How do I handle a salon owner that breaks state rules regarding sanitation?

The owner of my salon is breaking many state rules and regulations regarding disinfection and sanitation, particularly when it comes to pedicures, and I am worried for my clients’ safety. I’ve spoken to her, but she doesn’t seem to care. How should I handle this?

A.

Ultimately if you know the rules are being broken and you continue to work in that environment and do nothing about it, you will feel out of place, you will not respect your leader, and eventually you will leave. I recommend you bring all of the necessary safety information to your owner. Let her know this is something you have to have in place to feel that you work in the type of environment where you feel motivated as well as serve the clients with the utmost integrity. Ask the owner to implement these systems. In the meantime, I would be looking for another nail salon where you could move in the event nothing changes. Be ready. You cannot control your owner or her practices. You can control your career. If you need to move, then you should. Even if it is temporarily challenging for you to do this, in the long run you will have your integrity and you will be standing for what you value.

-Steve Gomez is the manager of training for Milady (www.milady.cengage.com).